Imposing Knight Amanda Cowen contemplated the… thing slowly turning in front of the Plaza.

Jusolor, the Endless Tumble

Level 529 legend

Health: 539202

Mind: 78889

Endurance: 395485

Aether: 790969

“As much as I like to fight these things, that one frightens me,” she confessed to the rest of her team, looking at the gigantic amount of aether in the descriptor.

As expected, Spectacular Physics Habborlain remained unmoving, staring at the legendary creature, while the rest offered shrugs and other signs of acquiescing. The frightening thing in question was a tangle of what looked like silver and gold wire with small spikes jutting out all over.

The entire trunk zone of Umontikal was full of tumbleweeds. Cowen had seen these things – desiccated vegetation pushed by winds. You didn’t see those in the British Isles, but there were enough zones of the Labyrinth with deserts that you saw some from time to time.

Umontikal, though, had those as creatures, rather than distraction and scenery. Just like the boss, those had low endurance and high aether, and… they burned. Oh, they loved burning things, spewing fire and the like. The guardians of the zone were even worse. All Ancients, without exception, and loaded with magical attacks of all types. Even poison stuff, which required careful management from Habborlain to dissipate before it became uncontrollable.

That had been the first time in three months she’d got an upgrade to a piece of gear. Every Ancient had dropped Heroic equipment, just like those on the previous tier-three zone, Castikal. Add another weirdness on the part of trunk zones – the normal looting rules didn’t seem to apply there.

Heat and Smoke Braided Neck

Neck

Heroic equipment

Requires: Level 494

Provides: +462 defence rating, +5% regeneration, AGI+83, FOC+76, +996 health, +917 endurance

“I shudder to think what the next zone’s Legend will be if it's full of English pudding,” Cowen said.

“Based on progression? I expect a 700-750 guardian,” Indomitable Spellthrower Myrl Douglas replied.

“Jack is going to fill his pants,” Calculating Balancer Emory Foale added, alluding to the boss of the British Scouts and master raid leader, Abiding Mentor Jack Millard.

“Well, until we get enough levels and numbers, that’s not going to matter,” Cowen replied.

“When can we expect them?” Foale asked.

“They don’t want anyone noticing that half of the British Scouts have gone missing while they cross the zones. But there are still at least three or four groups coming. Millard and his regulars should be in Othary in two weeks. Then, it’s six new people every two weeks and a half?” she calculated.

“That thing needs at least twenty. We’ll have to wait two months,” Douglas mused.

“We can do the previous one once Jack arrives, though,” Dynamic Observer Waldo Aubert said.

Castikal had been a surprise – rather than an endless day, it was an endless night. Full of werewolves, the upright two-legged cousins of the ubiquitous wolves. Unlike the ones of legend on Earth who changed between wolves and men, those simply alternated in colouring. They used physical attacks when dark, and aether ones when turning lighter.

The central guardian of the zone was of the same kind of wolf, probably only worse. They had not attempted it.

Nicteres, the Moonlord

Level 281 legend

Health: 111740

Mind: 77529

Endurance: 74128

Aether: 59311

“Two teams should be enough for the Moonlord. But it is probably not worth it, unlike this one.”

“Don’t forget Cores. They’re rare enough that a single Core, even at 250+, is worth fighting,” Aubert countered.

“Maybe,” she said, looking forlornly at the tumbleweed Plaza guardian.

“Meanwhile, shall we check the tier five trunk?”

“Before we do, I want to do a quick recon of Nindarul, though. The tier three American zone connection we found is noted, but this one is on the master list from the Archivists for our zones. Meaning if we can see where it comes out, that might give us a shortcut to funnel high tier Professionals faster into the trunk,” Cowen said.

“Okay. Nindarul first, then up. Maybe there’s a better connection in Zabarkal.”

“We’ll check, then report,” Cowen concluded.

She did not anticipate going much further than tier five of the trunk system. With care, they’d probably risk a peek into the tier six, but she doubted they’d have enough firepower to tackle any guardian there. 700+ Ancients in Zabarkal were already going to be rough fighting, notably if you couldn't move freely around the platforms, but 1000 ones? She wasn’t sure even Millard would be ready to tackle them, not until he was well in his tier seven.

Calculating Balancer

(tier 5)

Required: 116 AGI, 116 FOC, 116 INT

Provides:

+15 health/+32 endurance/+13 mind/+10 aether per level

+1 Milestone/12 levels

Calculating Balancer Milestone: +12 AGI, +7 FOC, +5 PRE, +4 CON, 5% slashing damage, 5% piercing damage

Skill set: Environment / Offense